The first round the Amlin Challenge Cup got out to a controversial start as Gloucester have filed a formal complaint over the match with Mont-de-Marsan despite their 11-5 win. The controversy stems from Andy Hazell's sending off in the 55th minute. Hazell clearly punching a Mont-de-Marsan player but Gloucester claim that the French were equally as bad and need to have their behavior reviewed as well. Gloucester was able to win the match courtesy of Ian Clark's try in the 29th minute. Also in Pool 1, London Irish stormed to a 43-16 win over Bordeaux. Sailosi Tagicakibau scored to tries for the Exiles while Chris Hala'ufia, Topsy Ojo, Halani 'Aulika, and Jonathan Jospeh added a try a piece.
Take the jump for more scores.
The story in Pool 5 was a pair of blowouts. London Welsh made their first steps into European play with a 68-19 beating by Stade Francais at Kassam Stadium. Stade made their intentions known early as Remy Bonfils scored a try only one minute into the match. In total, Stade scored nine tries while London Welsh only managed one, a Dan George effort in the 30th minute. In the other match in the pool, Grenoble smashed Italian Top 10 leaders Cavalieri Prato 59-3. Grenoble matched their french counterparts with nine tries of their own.
London Wasps got their European campaign off to a fine start with a 38-25 victory over the Dragons. Adam Hughes got a try for the Dragons only two minutes into the match but it was all Wasps from their. Jack Wallace scored in the fifth minute before Fabio Staibano and Billy Vunipola added tries before Lewis Evans responded for the Dragons. In all, Nick Robinson hit three conversion and four penalties for the Wasps. The other match in the Pool 3 saw Bayonne steamroll Mogliano 71-7.
Like Bayonne, Perpignan and Worcester ran up big scores against their opponents in Pool 2. Perpignan scored 11 tries to beat Rovigo 79-12 while Worcester scored 13 tries to beat Bizkaia Gernika RT 85-5.
The match between Agen and Calvisano in Pool 4 was a more even affair. The Italians took an early lead in the second minute thanks to a Giacomo Brancoli try, but Agen responded with two tries and a penalty goal to take control of the match. Or it least it seemed that way until the second half with Calvisano scored 14 unanswered points to make the match close. Lastly, Bath had no troubles with Bucuresti as they emerged with a 40-17 win.
After one round of play teams have pretty much sorted themselves with three English teams and two French teams leading the pools. Click here for the full table.
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